


Rise of the Guardians: Burning the Phoenix

by SedofRan



Series: Time Trilogy (ROTG) [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Death of Jack, Pitch return, Rewriting History, Time Travel, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-05-19 03:50:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5952625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SedofRan/pseuds/SedofRan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been about a year since Pitch was defeated. Now he is back, but not for long. With the help of one of Grandfather Time's hourglasses, he goes back in time to make sure Jack Frost will never be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. HIS Return

It's always calm before the storm. That saying ran through Jack's mind as he stood in a defensive stance above his frozen pond, his staff held so tightly in his pale hands that for a second he was afraid that it would split in half once more. His brilliant eyes dashed from side to side, searching for something without a single clue as to what that may be. 

Silence reigned over the entire area. The only things to be heard were the sounds of the winter life as the world went on around him. Jack sighed heavily, releasing a breath of frost as his shoulders relaxed and slumped. Without even asking, the North Wind lifted him gently into the air.

_Must have just been my imagination acting up,_ Jack thought as he sailed through the skies. _Paranoia is the enemy of fun._ Even with his own reassurance that nothing was wrong, Jack couldn’t find the will power to bring his usual smile back to his face just yet. Some sort of sour omen stood over his head, weighing down his shoulders and gripping his heart with its cold hand. He just knew something was wrong, even if he knew nothing.

“Hey, Jack!” a voice called to him from somewhere below, tearing him from his train of thought. Glancing towards the sound, he floated down to his first believer. Jamie grinned widely as he drew near, though that soon disappeared into an expression of utmost worry. “Are you alright?”

Jack quirked an eyebrow inquisitively. “What do you  mean?”

Jamie shrugged his small shoulders. “I don’t know. You just don’t seem very… happy today.”

“It is nothing,” the guardian assured the child. “I just got up on the wrong side of the bed today.”

_“If you think that is bad, imagine coming from under it.”_

Jack’s eyes grew wide as he whirled around, taking a defensive stance in front of Jamie, who tensed up at the familiar voice. Just a few feet from them, in all his monochromatic glory, was the owner of the voice; Pitch Black.

The man smirked impishly at the pair, revealing his sharpened teeth. “Long time no see, eh Jack?” Pitch held out his hand, as if to shake Jack’s own. “How long has it been? A year? It is so hard to keep track of time where I have been.”

“Sorry to tell you this, but it is the wrong time of the year for you. The monsters only come out on Halloween nowadays.”

Pitch chuckled darkly, taking the snarky words of Jack in stride. He ran a hand through his black locks. “This is what I missed about you, Jack. That humor of yours is just so strong. It is partially why I was defeated in the first place.” Pitch took a step towards the pair.

“Stay back,” Jack hissed. “I wouldn’t let you touch him then, and I am not going to let you now.”

“Hurt him?” Pitch repeated, his smile never fading. “My dear Jack, who said anything about hurting anyone? No. No. No. I am here to save someone. Specifically, you.”

“Me?” Jack repeated skeptically. He narrowed his eyes on Pitch’s form. “What do you mean by that?”

“All in a matter of time, Jack.” Pitch chuckled at his own inside joke. “All in a matter of time.”

Jack opened his mouth to respond again, but was cut off by the sound of jingling bells and a boastful call.

“Jack!” There was a din as the fabled sleigh skid across the snow and ice. The occupants of it rushed out, their weapons in hand as their eyes dashed between the three already there. North scowled at Pitch. “Vat do you vant, Pitch?”

“Oh good. The rest of our characters have appeared. Now we can get started on our abridged play.” Pitch clapped his hands together. “Good to see all of you again, by the way.”

“Quick the small talk, you bloody bounce,” Bunny snarled. “Where are the teeth?”

“Teeth?” Jack asked. “You stole teeth again? Let me tell you something now, pitch, if it didn’t work the first time, it sure as heck isn’t going to happen the second.”

“I am not foolish enough to think that, Jack.” Pitch pulled a teeth-capsule out from behind his back. “This time, I was after a specific person’s teeth. Do they look familiar, Jack. Do they?”

“Again with this?” Jack snarled, his eyes locked on the physical form of his childhood memories. “I am starting to think that you are as obsessed with my teeth as Tooth is. No offense.” Tooth rolled her eyes at this, but said nothing.

“This is different, Jack.” Pitch tossed the capsule up and down with one hand, giving it no mind at all. “And this isn’t all that I have taken.”

Pitch smirked before pulling something else out from behind him. In his hand, he held a small hourglass. The fragile thing looked no more than two inches at the most and was filled with plain white sand. Jack quirked an eyebrow.

“What? You robbed a dollar store? I must say, if this is your big mastermind plan to take revenge on us, then I don’t see why you even crawled out of, or out from beneath, bed today”

Pitch shook his head and tutted lightly. He opened the capsule and the top of the hourglass, pulling out one of Jack’s teeth. “Poor Jack. You were in the dark for so long that you don’t know anything about anything. But don’t worry. Soon you will be a part of the dark, not in it.” With that being said, Pitch dropped the Tooth into the hourglass and snapped it shut.

“How did you get one of those?” North bellowed as all of the guardians, excluding Jack, took a few steps toward the man. “No way he let you in.”

“You would be surprised,” Pitch said calmly. He closed the capsule and tossed it toward Jack, who barely managed to catch it after some stumbling. “I won’t need the rest of those now. I would say see you soon, Jack, but I won’t see _you_ soon or ever again.” He waved his hand at them. “Ta-Ta.”

Pitch shook the hourglass gently. The sand swirled around the Tooth, seeming to absorb it. Suddenly, the monochromatic man threw it to the ground, smashing it into pieces. The sand from the broken fragments grew and circled him before, in an instant, both he and the white plumes were gone.

“What was-" Jack was cut off as he felt a strong pulse run through him, starting in his heart. He stumbled on his feet, grasping the throbbing area. It felt like his insides were an inferno. As he fell to his knees, he faintly heard his friends calling out his name.

“Ve must hurry,” North stated. “Ve need to get Jack to Grandfather Time.”

That was the last thing that Jack heard before his world was encompassed in darkness.


	2. Tai M. Keeper

Jack groaned as he rolled his head side to side, as if trying to shake off his growing headache. He could hear the faint sound of voices, but they sound much too far away for him to pay any mind to. No. There were other things that were drawing his attention at the current moment.

Like the ticking of what sounded like a million clocks.

Jack covered his ears. The worst part about the noise was that there was a new one every half second. The ticking was not on time with the others and the gears that were running them were making such a racket. Where was he now and why did it have to be so loud?

“Jack!” A small hand was placed on his chest. Jack could only assume that the owner of the hand was also the one who had just said his name, though the voice sounded so far away compared to the touch. He let his bright blue orbs flutter open slowly, afraid of what sort of chaos he would see that would go with the din.

Clocks. Clocks everywhere. Large clocks and small clocks and clocks of every color. The walls were nearly completely covered with them. The areas that had no clocks were made up of large gears and mirrors. It kind of hurt his eyes to see the backwards time and moving gears in them right next to that of the originals.

“Jack?” the voice said again. The spirit of fun finally turned his gaze to the person floating next to his resting form. Tooth bit her lip and stared at his with wet, worrisome eyes.

“I’m fine.” Jack winced at his own voice. While Tooth’s voice seemed so far away and quiet, his own voice was loud and booming. It was all around him, echoing in his delicate ears.

“I’m so glad to see you up, Jack. We are waiting to visit Grandfather Time. He will make everything all better again. Just you wait and see.” Tooth stroked his hair gently, much like a mother would do to a troubled child. “You will be all better again in no time.”

“No time is correct, Miss Tooth. The thing that is uncertain is whether or not he will come out alright from it.” Tooth helped Jack sit up so that he could see the person who had spoken.

The man who was walking slowly towards them was basked in a warm, yellow glow. With every step, his body altered. His beard would grow long and the fall out, the fallen strand turning into white sand that swirled around him before packing onto his flesh once more. His wrinkly skin would break away, as if it were nothing more than a clay mask that was compacted onto his flesh. Much like his hair, these layers would crumble away into dust only for it to come back. even his height and weight altered in a flowing manor. Jack noticed that the man’s reflections in the mirrors differed as well, some showing him constantly as a small child, a young man, a teenager, or old man.

The man held out his arms. “Welcome. I know why you are here.”

“Jack,” North said. It was then that the winter spirit noticed that the others were only a few feet away from him and Tooth. “This is the master of time. This is Grandfather Time.”

“Tai M. Keeper,” the man introduced himself further. It seemed that his was the only voice that Jack could hear perfectly fine. “I am deeply sorry for what has happened to you.”

“What-” Jack cut himself off when his voice seemed to get even louder. He covered his ears and squeezed his eyes tightly.

“Jack!”

Jack wasn’t sure who it was that had shouted his name, or if everyone had, for his ears were still ringing from his own voice.

“I suggest you stop trying to talk, Mr. Frost,” Keeper said calmly. “Your senses are out of sorts because of what Mr. Black is attempting to do. It is only a slight side effect, but more will come.”

“Vhat exactly is Pitch trying to do?” North asked.

“He snuck into my tower and managed to take one of my time capsules. By taking Mr. Frost’s Tooth and combining it, he was able to travel through time to the point when he lost that Tooth without the aid of my magical ability.” Keeper gestured to the walls of the room they were in. Taking a closer look, Jack noticed that there were millions of those small hourglasses all over the place; on and in clocks, on the floor, and even some were on the gears, riding them and getting tossed around without breaking. “I know not what precisely he plans to do, but I do know his goal; wipe out Jack Frost.”

The guardians gasped.

“Wipe him out?” Tooth held her hands over her chest, as if soothing an ache there. “Are you saying that Jack is just going to disappear, as if he never existed?”

“Yes and no,” Keeper responded. “He will have existed. There is no such thing as going back in time, for time is always moving and on a singular plane. What Mr. Black has done is, in a sense, cause time to repeat itself. Wherever he is right now, time is moving the same for him that it is for us now. If he gets rid of Mr. Frost in the hourglass plane, then Mr. Frost will fade away now, not cease to exist ever. The idea of a time paradox is a rather ridiculous misconception, if you think about it.”

“Then how do we stop the creep?” Bunny asked, taking a step towards Keeper. “Popsicle here may be a frost-bitten pain in the posterior, but I’m not going to let him just disappear like that.”

 _Thanks,_ Jack thought with a roll of his eyes.

“You need to go to a time that is as close to Mr. Black’s as possible. I am sure that Miss Tooth can supply another Tooth of his,” Keeper explained. Tooth nodded her head before pulling out Jack’s Tooth capsule. “You may use one of my hourglasses to chase after him. I suggest you choose a Tooth that was lost after the one Mr. Black used, for he has already been running around for a while now.”

I’ve got the one,” Tooth said as she held out the small, white molar. “We better get moving then.”

“Vhat about Jack?” North asked. Sandy nodded his head enthusiastically, creating a snowflake out of sand above his head.

“I will watch out for Mr. Frost while you are gone, since he is in no condition to travel. His body is trapped in the fabric of time now that the hourglass has been activated using his Tooth. His body is preparing itself for any change that would cause for him to disappear.” Jack gulped nervously at Keeper’s words. “His current pain is only the beginning and it won’t end until either Mr. Black is stopped or is victorious.”

“We won’t delay,” Bunny promised, dashing to the side to get an hourglass before bringing it back to the group. Tooth handed the molar over to him, which he then placed into the hourglass and shook it. “Don’t ya worry, ya bloody show pony. You will be right as rain again in no time. Just try not to celebrate by freezing my eggs again.”

Jack smiled at him, but said nothing.

“Take my final words to heart, guardians,” Keeper said sullenly. “Nothing must be altered. Everything must go according to how it was meant to be. Do you understand?”

“Sure ve do!” North bellowed. “Don’t vorry. Ve vill stop Pitch and save Jack vith no problems. He von’t lay hands on younger Jack. Promise.”

All of the guardians placed their hands on the hourglass before they threw it at the ground. It shattered, the white sand encompassing them. In a matter of seconds, all four of them were gone.


	3. Chapter 3: When Are We?

The guardians clambered to the ground, falling on top of one another in a four person heap. Tooth groaned, flicking one of Bunny’s ears out of her face. “Anyone got a clue as to when we are?”

“No,” North grunted as he stood up, causing the others o fall off of his bulky form “But looks familiar. We near Jack’s pond.”

Sandy made an image of a clock and Pith above his head.

“How far did Pitch go?” Bunny asked for the mute man. “He could have gone to any time to get rid of Jack.”

“Perhaps needed Jack not be guardian. Not know of his existence?” North suggested. Suddenly, an exclamation point appeared above Sandy’s head. He grabbed North’s arm, tugging it enthusiastically while pointing behind the group, a barrage of dream sand exploding into snowflakes above him. The gang turned around to see what had grabbed the silent man’s attention so fiercely.

There stood Jack, or what looked to be Jack. Both his hair and eyes were a shade of brown and he wore old clothing, completely different from his usual hoodie. He was carrying a basket of breads and was busy chatting with a small girl.

Without a single moment of hesitation, the guardians dispersed, hiding amongst the greenery before they could draw the attention of either mortal. They seemed to be successful in this, for neither human Jack nor the girl paid their directions any mind as they continued on their way, leaving the gathering of guardians just as fast as they had entered it.

“Guys,” Tooth whispered as she and the others slowly fled their hiding place. “Pitch didn’t just come back before Jack became a guardian.”

“He came back to before Jack as even Jack Frost.” North stared after where the mentioned by had gone. “He wants to take him out before Jack can even defend himself.”

“Of course,” Bunny hissed. “That is what that bloody bugger loves doing most; hurting those who can’t fight back.”

“We have to save him!” Tooth exclaimed.

“We need to find Pitch,” North said “We don’t know where or when he plans to strike and we need to make sure that we are not seen by any civilians.”

Sandy created a picture of Jack with his sand and an arrow pointing to it.

“Sandy’s right. We need to keep an eye on Jack.” Bunny crossed his arms over his head.

“But we have to keep out of sight,” Tooth insisted. “We don’t know whether the world will be able to see us or not. We really should have gotten some answers from Grandfather Time before coming back here.”

“Too late to be talking about too late.” Bunny patted Tooth on the back. “I guess that we will just have to stay I the shadows until we find the shadow man.”

“Or you could turn around and find the ‘shadow man’ now.”

The group spun around, their hands immediately finding their way to their weapons. Tooth’s wings fluttered as she prepared to take flight and her feathers bristled. Long stems of golden dust formed a pair of whips for Sandy to hold.

Pitch held up his hands, showing them to be void of weapons. “I didn’t reveal myself to fight you. I doubt that it would aide me at all to take you out, seeing as you may just accidentally help me in my mission.”

Bunny snarled, baring his teeth threateningly. “Like we would ever help a bugger like you, Pitch!” He held up his boomerangs a little higher.

“We would never help you destroy Jack!” Tooth hissed.

The guardians were taken aback when Pitch sudden burst into laughter. ‘Destroy Jack?” he repeated. “Who said anything about wanting to hurt Jack?”

“But that is vhat you have come back here to do isn’t it?” North questioned. “To destroy the Jack of now so that there will not be a Jack of tomorrow?”

“Of course I didn’t expect such simpletons like you to understand.” Pitch started to back up into the shadows of the trees. “Only one has come close to being my equal but sadly your stupidity had already poisoned his beautiful mind before I could get my grasp on it.”

“Leave Jack alone!” Tooth shouted, soaring towards the smirking man. Pitch sent her a wink before falling into the shadows, disappearing as if he were never there in the first place.

“So now we at least know that Pitch is around,” Bunny muttered. Sandy held a hand up in the air. His sand formed an image of a snowflake and hands crushing it before a large question mark formed. “Sandy is right. Why didn’t Pitch attack Jack when he just walked by?”

“Maybe he knew that we were near and too strong for him?” North stated with a shrug.

“But he would have had the moment of surprise. In that amount of time he could have seriously injured Jack, or worse, so why didn’t he?”

“He did say that he doesn’t want to hurt Jack.” Tooth made her way over to the others.

Bunny rolled his eyes. “You can’t seriously think about talking what Pitch said to heart, right? He was just saying that to trick us into not going after him or something. There is no way that Pitch just came back here in time to take in the view.”

“Ve shouldn’t be arguing with selves,” North stated, stepping between the two and sheathing his swords. “Ve need to go to Jack. Now that ve know Pitch is here, ve need to be keeping close eye on him.”

Bunny sighed. “North is right. Let’s ignore what Pitch said for now. It is more important to make sure that Jack is safe rather than to question I what Pitch said was just a load.”

“I swear to man in moon that he will not touch a single hair on Jack’s head,” Tooth hissed, clenching her fists tightly. “Or else I am not going to be able to pay for all of the teeth that am going to knock out of his mouth.”


	4. Jack and Mary

“Jack!” a young girl with long brown hair launched herself at the boy, latching onto both of his legs and squeezing tight.

The boy chuckled. “OH no!” he shouted, waving his arms frantically in the air above his head and swaying his upper body side to side., “I can’t stay up!”

“No, Jack!” It was too late. Jack let himself fall backwards, going over his sister’s form and lying flat on his back. His sister grunted as she tried to get his legs off of her. Once she finally did, she stuck her tongue out at him. “That wasn’t funny, Jack.”

“I can’t hear you right now, Mary,” Jack responded, closing his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his tongue.

Mary placed her hands on her hips and moved to stand over his head. “What are you doing, Jack?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jack asked, cracking open one eye to peer up at her. “The fall was too great and you have now stricken me and sent me to the grave.” He then opened both eyes and reached out a hand towards the cloudy skies above. “Tell Mom that I love her and be good to Dad. Tell Grandma to not pinch my cheeks at my funeral and that she can’t have my room for her own personal sewing room.”

“Oh Jack.” Mary rolled her eyes at him.

“I feel so cold!” Jack exclaimed, facial expression twisting suddenly. “I see it! I see the light! Good-bye cruel world!” With that, he dropped his outstretched hand and closed both eyes once again.

“Get up, Jack,” Mary insisted, nudging the still boy with her boot. Seeing that he had no intentions of breaking character, the girl sighed heavily and sat down on his chest, resting her chin in her hands as she did so. “I guess this means that I get to help make you look pretty for your funeral. I’m thinking one of Mom’s old dresses and my biggest bow. I bet I could borrow some pretty paint from Elizabeth to fix that mug of yours.”

Jack’s eyes flew open. “I thought that we agreed that that time was a one-time thing.”

Mary avoided making eye contact with him. “Did I say that? I seem to have forgotten in all of the stress. I mean, my only brother did just die tragically.”

“I don’t think so.” Jack wrapped his arms around her and stood up. Mary squealed as he grasped his arms in an attempt to keep from falling. He swung her from side to side. “I’m not letting you go until you promise never to bring up that incident again!”

“Never!”

“Never?” Jack repeated, looking thoughtfully. “I guess that I will just have to throw you into the lake then.”

“But the water is freezing!” Even as she said this, Mary’s smile did not drop.

“Then you better get to promising because here up go.” Jack took a step in the direction of the water. “I’m on my way.”

“Fine! I promise! I promise!” Mary giggled. “Just put me down already.”

Jack gently placed his sister onto the ground, releasing his grp as soon as her boots brushed the dirt path. “So now what do you want to do?” he asked her, bending down to her level.

Marry shrugged. “It is too cold to play in the lake. Do you want to go climb the trees again?”

Jack shook his head solemnly. “Sorry, Marry, but I need to go collect some more wood. Winter is coming. Soon there will be frost and snow and the lake will be frozen solid.”

Mary’s face lit up. “Then we can go ice skating again!”

Jack chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “Then we can go ice skating gain.” He then nudged her gently. “If someone can manage to stay on her feet long enough, that is.”

Mary blushed a bright red. “If I can’t talk about that one time, then you can't talk about that time either."

"Fine, Fine. That seems fair." Jack pressed his hands against her back, pushing her in the direction of their cabin. Why don't you go see if Elizabeth wants to play or help Mom make bread?"

"Okay, but you are going to play with me when you are done, right?" Mary stared up at her older brother with wide, pleading eyes.

"You bet." Jack waved her away as he started walking towards the nearby woods. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Bye Jack!" Mary shouted before dashing off, disappearing into the thin layer of trees that surrounded the lake and heading in the direction of their home. Jack lowered his arm once he was sure that she was gone.

_“Oomph!”_

Jack jumped as something crashed and snapped behind him, causing a loud din. Hesitantly, he turn around, prepared to run away if it was another bear, going in the opposite direction as home, or course, least he should lead it back to his loved ones. What he saw instead caused him to freeze completely and stare at the oddity in front of him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided that Jack's sister's name is going to Mary. I decided this because the writer, William Joyce, had a daughter named Mary Katherine who died of a brain tumor at the age of eighteen. He had dedicated Rise of the Guardians in her honor.


	5. Foreigners are Weird

“Are you alright?” Jack asked, taking rushing over to the burly man who had just fallen from the tree. The man didn’t respond more than a low groan as he rubbed his head.

“That one is going to hurt later,” the large man with the odd accent opened his eyes and finally took notice of Jack. He sat up suddenly, staring at Jack with wide eyes. “Jack!”

“Um, yeah,” Jack muttered, holding out his hand to help the stranger up. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”

“No.” the man let Jack pull him to his feet. He brushed the dirt off of his red coat. “Just coincidence that guessed name right.”

“If you say so.” Jack scanned the man nervously, unsure as to what to do now. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

“How you know?”

“Well it is a small town, so it is impossible not to know everyone,” Jack stated. “Plus you talk and dress funny, no offense.”

“None taken,” the man responded, sticking out his hand to Jack, which Jack responded to with great hesitance. “You may call me North. I come from north.” He started to shake Jack’s hand enthusiastically, his grip tightening with the amount of force put into it. “Nice to meet you, Jack.”

“Likewise.” Jack couldn’t help but smile, as it seemed that North’s boastful grin was contagious. His hand was finally released after what felt like forever. “So what brings you to a small town like this… and being up in that tree?”

North shrugged his broad shoulders, making Jack a little jealous as he thought of his own slim build. “Looking out for a friend. And traveling. Always come here once a year.”

“So do you have a place to stay?” Jack asked.

“Not going to be around that long,” North explained. “Just passing through. Not even a ruble on me for that.”

“What about food? Do you have… ruble… for that?”

North shrugged. “I make due. I be fine.”

Jack shook his head. “Nonsense. Winter is coming. Why don’t you come over to my place? You can have dinner with us before you leave, or even stay the night.”

North shook his head. “No. I don’t vant to intrude.” North then crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, people don’t take to strangers well.”

“Don’t worry. My parents will welcome you just fine,” Jack insisted. North continued to shake his head.

“I’m sorry that I can’t explain it to you, Jack, but I need to keep my presence here a secret. No one must know about me." North clasped his hands in front of him and stared up at Jack with wide eyes. "Please, Jack."

Jack sighed, running a hand through his brown locks. "Fine," he finally said. "I won’t say anything to anyone about you, but I can’t just leave you out here for the elements. Who knows if it is going to start snowing soon.”

“That is very kind of you, Jack.” North suddenly embrace Jack in a bone-crushing bear hug. “In response, I help you with wood.”

“Great,” Jack managed to say, struggling in the burly man’s grip. “Can you put me down? I can’t breathe.”

“So sorry, Jack.” North set the boy down gently. “Sometimes I don’t know own strength.” North laughed, the sound echoing through the trees as he gave it his all. Jack couldn’t help but chuckle at the strange man’s antics.

“How about this; you will help me get some firewood and I will sneak you out some food.” Jack held out his hand. “Do we have a deal?”

“Ja!” North shook Jack’s offered hand enthusiastically, managing to spread the motion throughout all of the teen’s body. “I can help get lots. As much as you vant.” North then turned away from him, rushing over to a thicker part of the surrounding trees and lifting four logs onto his left shoulder before moving on to the next.

“Just a log or two would have been enough,” Jack muttered with a shake of his head and a smile. “Foreigners are weird.”


	6. It's Mary

 “North?” Jack called, wandering out into the thicker trees. He turned his head from side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dark red coated stranger hat he had met the evening before. Such attempts proved to be fruitless. “Are you still around? North?”

Silence.

Jack scratched his head, not caring if he ruffled his dark locks, already sticking up in every angle because of his slumber. “I guess he has already moved on,” he muttered to himself under his breath. Taking one last survey of the area, Jack turned from the scene and started to make his way back towards his family’s cabin.

“Jack!” Mary shouted, rushing towards the boy and wrapping his thin arms around his waist and hiding her face deep into his shirt.

Jack chuckled and lightly pet her hair. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought that you were going to be spending the day with Elizabeth?”

Mary removed her face from the cloth so that she could stare up at her older brother. “She isn’t feeling good today, so her mom told me to go back home.” Puffs of white erupted from her mouth with every word she said.

“It is probably just a winter cold,” Jack assured. “How about we go check on the pond?”

Mary’s face lit up. “Do you think that it has frozen over, Jack? Do you?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to check.” With that being said, Jack removed his sister from his body. He took her petite hand in his own. Nothing more was said as they made their way towards the water, hope in their hearts.

Unbeknownst to the pair, a shadowy man watched them carefully from the darkness of the trees.

****

“Why did you run off?” Bunny hissed, grasping North by the shoulder. “You made contact with Jack! You could have stuck around and kept a closer eye on him.”

‘I couldn’t,” North insisted. “If Jack can see me, the all who believe can see too. Jack’s parents probably wouldn’t, so that cause problems.”

“He has a point, Bunny.” Tooth gently removed his hand from North. “It is one thing to accidentally make contact with Jack, but to insert ourselves i8nto his life and reveal ourselves is a whole other thing.”

“I still say that he should have stuck around. Who cares if North as to continue to ‘pretend’ to be some crazy foreigner who hides from adults and sticks close to just a few of the kids in the area.”

Tooth bit her lip. “Um, Bunny?”

“I know how that sounded!’ he hissed, stomping one of his large feet before taking a seat on an old log. He ran a furry paw over his eyes. “How long do we have to do this? Because, while we are here, we are not in the future and Jack could be squirming around in complete agony. We can’t be here for the rest of Jack’s life.”

“Actually, that is as long as ve have to vait,” North stated. “Pitch is still too veak to defend himself against nay of the guardians. Once Jack is Frost, he vill have no fear.”

“But how long will that take?” Bunny asked. “We don’t know when Jack was chosen. We don’t know anything about him from before we met.”

“Not true,” Tooth inputted. “We all were around before Jack Frost. I collected his teeth I am not saying that I know exactly when I stopped collecting. I have too many children to know every detail of each of them when called upon, but I do know that the tooth that we used was the last one that was ever collected, so we have to be near the time when he was chosen.”

“Jack still lose baby teeth at his age?” North questioned, chuckling.

“It doesn’t have to be a baby tooth. He could have lost an adult one somehow or held onto the tooth until they decided to put it under their pillow for me and my fairies to collect.” Tooth fluttered over to a log ad sat down, resting her chin in her hands. “Either way, we shouldn’t have to wait here for that long.”

“I still say that North should make contact with him again,” Bunny grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “If the show pony gets attacked by Pitch while we are keeping our distance, I am going to blame you.” With that, Bunny rose and marched off.

“Bunny!’ Tooth stood up, with the full intention to go after the large animal, but was halted by Sandy grasping her hand and shaking his head silently Tooth bit her bottom lip, but said nothing more

“It’s alright, Tooth,” North assured the girl. “I know Bunny doesn’t mean it.”

“He still shouldn’t have said it.” Tooth allowed Sandy to lead her back to her seat. “We all care about Jack.”

“Bunny is just stressed.” North patted her on the head gently. “Don’t vorry. Jack vill be fine. Pitch vill not touch him. Then veal vill be happy again.”

“I guess…”

“Guys!” Bunny rushed back to them, skidding slightly as he tried to stop suddenly in his dash “You have to come quick!”

“What is going on?” Tooth’s wings fluttered violently as she was lifted off the earth. “Is it Jack?"

Bunny shook his head. “It’s Mary."


	7. A Plan Is Revealed

“I know, I know,” Jack assured, gesturing towards his frightened sister. “But you’re gonna be alright. You’re not going to fall in.” Mary gasped as another crack formed in the ice beneath her skates. “We are going to have a little fun instead.”

“No,” Mary moaned. “We’re not.”

“Would I trick you?”

“Yes!” Tear started to fill Mary’s eyes. “You always play tricks!”

“What should we do?” Bunny whispered. He and t6he others were crouched behind a few large bushes, off to the side of the pond, watching intently. “I don’t see Pitch anywhere.”

“It is not like Pitch could have done anything to cause this, especially since he isn’t here right now,” Tooth stated, glancing around, as if she expected to see the shadow man pop out behind them at any second. “We shouldn’t intervene. It is like Grandfather Time said; things that must be, must be. We can’t mess with the timeline. Things ned to happen as they were meant to.”

“So we need to just watch as that little girl falls in?” Bunny asked, gesturing to the pair on the fragile ice. “I could rush in and save her in a second.”

“But then you would reveal yourself and tamper with things that shouldn’t be. We have to be very delicate with these things.” Bunny rolled his eyes, but did not speak up against Tooth.

Just at that moment, Jack used a long stick to pull his little sister out of her predicament, throwing her to the side and sliding closer to the mess himself “See?” North commented. “Jack saved his sister all on own.”

“Hey guys?” Tooth squinted her eyes. “Is it just me or does that stick look familiar?”

Before the others could get a better look at it, the ice beneath Jack’s feet broke apart, sending the boy falling into he icy waters. The staff flew from his hands, landing somewhere to the side of the pond, and his head smacked on a chunk of ice on the way down.

“Jack!” Mary screamed, taking a step forward. She halted in doing so when the ice cracked under her skate. She gasped and skated backwards, her hands clutching at her heart. “I’ll get dad! I’ll get dad!” With that, Mary tossed her skates off and didn’t even bother to put on her boots before dashing off, screaming for help.

“Jack!” the guardians rose from their hiding spots, moving towards the ice. They were about to leap onto the frozen water when tentacles of gold wrapped around their forms.

“Sandy!” North grunted, resisting for all he was worth as he and the others were lifted in their air and pulled away from the pond. “Vhat are you doing?”

Sandy shook his head, his face completely serious as he stared each of them down. Bunny growled low in his throat. “Cut it out, you brumby. We have to go save Jack. Pitch-”

Sandy shook his head. An image of the shadow man appeared above his head next to a question mark. He then waved the images away.

“Sandy is right,” Tooth muttered, trying to block out the sound of Jack struggling to climb up on the ice. “Pitch didn’t cause this. He couldn't have done anything to the ice, nor could he have forced Jack to take his sister’s place like this.” Tooth covered her face with her hands.

North gulped, finding such a task to be hard to accomplish, for his mouth was now dry and his throat felt like sandpaper. “This is what must be. This is history.”

“But he will pull himself out, right?” Tooth asked hopefully. “That is what happens. Jack gets out alright in the end.”

The others said nothing. They clenched their fists and turned away from the pond. The sounds of slashing waters and gasping breaths penetrated their ears and weighed their hearts down. No one dared to move.

“How cruel,” a slithery voice commented. “You are just going to sit there and let the boy drown like that? And here I thought that you guys were protectors.”

“Pitch!” Bunny hissed. He and the others were dropped from Sandy’s hold. They grasped their weapons and got into fighting positions as soon as their feet touch the ground. “You won’t get Jack. We will stop you before you can even think of hurting him.”

“Hurting him?” Pitch repeated with a laugh “You might want to get those big ears of yours checked, Bunnymund. I have told you over and over again that I wish no harm upon Jack.”

“Like we would ever believe you.” Tooth fluttered into the air. “Stay back or I’ll knock out a few more of your teeth.”

“I cannot stay back.” The man took a few steps toward them. “I am here not to harm Jack, but to save him.”

“Save him/” Bunny asked sarcastically with a roll of the eyes. “I’m sure that you came back in time just to _save_ Jack. Sure.”

Pitch just smirked and remained silent, continuing on his path towards Jack and, since they were in the path, the other guardians as well.

North’s eyes went wide. “That’s it,” he muttered under his breath. “You do want to save Jack.”

“Don’t tell me that you are falling for this, North.” Bunny turned his eyes away from Pitch to stare at North in shock. “There is no way that he means it.”

“Oh but I do, rabbit.” Pitch pulled out his shadow scythe and rested it on his shoulder. “It seems that at least one of you understands what is going on.”

“Then explain it to the rest of us!” Tooth shouted. “Let us hear your great plan!”

“You know nothing about Jack,” Pitch retorted. “Do you know why he was chosen? Because he sacrificed his life for the life of a child; for the life of his dear little sister.” He gestured to the icy pond behind them. “If dying caused Jack Frost to be chosen…”

“Then saving him with make Jack Frost disappear,” Tooth muttered in shock. Her limbs went numb as realization hit. “But that means-”

“That means that the only way for you to save dear Jackie-boy,” pitch interrupted, “would be to make sure that he dies.”


	8. A Fight to the Death

“No way.” Bunny shook his head. “You are lying! Tai wouldn’t have sent us back to kill Jack! We would never hurt him!”

“If you are so sure about that, then take the chance.” Pitch gestured behind them. “Go ahead and save him.”

“Oh man-in-moon,” Tooth covered her mouth with her petite hand and fell to the ground. “We have to… oh I think I am going to be sick.”

“Go ahead and save him. Drag Jack out of the cold hands of death. Save him and let that Jack die before he ever has a chance to live.” Pitch continued to creep closer. “Do you really want to have his blood on your hands? How will you ever be able to look at him again, knowing that you could have saved him? That you could have allowed him to keep his memories, stay with his family, grow old, find love, and have a place to belong? Can you really take that from him, guardians? Can you?”

“We can’t kill Jack,” Tooth moaned. “We can’t do it. We can’t.”

“Then don’t.” Pitch suddenly slammed his scythe down into the earth, using it to pole-vault over the guardians. Once he was over them, he let his scythe dissolve into a mass of black sand, which soared back in front of him. “Here I come to save the day!”

“No!” North threw his swords at Pitch, who faltered in his sprint for only a second in order to knock the volatile weapons to the side. “You von’t touch Jack!”

“How can we do this?” Tooth asked, more to herself than to anyone else. She wrapped her arms around her thin form as hysteria began to set in. “How can we possibly kill Jack?”

“Tooth,” the fairy glanced up at North, who held his hand out to her. “Ve have to do this.”

“But-”

“But Jack is in pain right now because he is disappearing. Do you think that that is right?” Tooth shook her head. “Think. If there is no Jack Frost, then there will be no one to help stop Pitch. He vill vin and many vill perish. Do you think that Jack vants that?”

“Of course not-”

“Then you know vhat ve have to do, even if it kills us inside.” North glance over his shoulder at Bunny, sparing a split second to check on the fight between Sandy and Pitch. “You too, Bunny.”

Bunny did not respond.

“You’re right.” Tooth wiped away her tears and rose to her feet, with the aid of North. “Let’s go protect future Jack.”

“That’s the spirit!” north laughed boastfully, though it seemed a bit hollow to Tooth. The pair ran towards the fight, leaving only Bunny behind.

“You won’t stop me!” Pitch shouted, swinging his scythe in a circle above his head. “I will save him and Jack Frost will be no more.”

“Never!” North picked up his swords and charged at the shadow man. He swung them towards his head, which was immediately blocked by his scythe once more. Pitch tried to back up as he blocked the onslaught of attacks, inching closer and closer to the spot in the ice where Jack was still fighting to get above the frosty waters. Pitch only faintly noticed that the human boy’s struggles were getting much weaker as time progressed.

“I don’t have time for this!” Pitch hissed, shoving Tooth to the side when she charged at him from the sky. “And neither does he.” With that being said, he kicked North back and slashed through the dream sand that tried to envelope him. “I’ll save him even if it is the last thing I do!” Pitch made a mad dash for the sinking pale hand of Jack.

“Hold it!’ North screamed, throwing his swords at the man once again. Pitch jumped over the first one and turned midair in order to strike the second away. He smirked and sent a wink at them before he noticed golden tendrils surrounding him.

“No!” he shouted, grasping at the bars of his golden prison. “You won’t stop me!” Pitch summoned his scythe and began slashing at the cage. Each time he destroyed a part of it, the sand would just reform almost instantly.

Sandy waved his hand to the others, showing that he could handle pitch. He stayed by the floating cage’s side, holding his hands up towards it as he controlled the sand to keep the man trapped. North and Tooth stood there, watching as the shadow man writhed inside it, screaming profanities towards them as he did so. This served as a good distraction from the drowning boy behind them.

“Well,” Tooth muttered as she clasped her hands together, “I guess that this is the end of this crazy adventure. Right gu-“

Tooth was interrupted as a blur of gray darted past them. Both unoccupied guardians turned to see Bunny leaning over the whole in the ice, reaching for the flailing hand.

“Bunny!” North shouted, dashing towards him. “Stop!”

“Hold on, Jack!” Bunny shouted, grasping the hand. “I’ll get you out in just a second. Just hold on!” He could feel Jack’s hope rising at the sensation of someone coming to his aid, for his grip tightened as he tried to pull himself up so as to get a breath of air before he could be pulled to safety.

“Bunny! No!” Tooth latched onto Bunny’s back. “Don’t, Bunny!”

“I can’t let him die like this!” Bunny shouted back as he fought against North’s hold on his arm, which prevented him from pulling Jack out of the water. “I can’t let Jack die alone like this!”

“You have to let go, Bunny,” Tooth cried, burying her face into his back fur. “We have to let this happen. We have to let him go. Please. For the Jack that we know.”

Tears matted down the short fur around Bunny’s eyes and his heart thudded in his chest.

With trembling hands, the Guardian of Hope let go and watched as Jack’s pale hand disappeared under the freezing water.


	9. Is the Battle Won?

Bunny stared in silence at the surface of the water, half hoping that he would see the pale limb burst from it once more, but nothing happen. Jack was gone.

“You killed him!” Pitch screamed from his cage. “I hope you feel real proud of yourselves! You not only let him die, but you did everything in your power to make sure that he did! Take that back to the future with you!”

Bunny lifted his paws, examining them as if he expected to see Jack’s hand still tightly wrapped in them. They weren’t. The guardian of hope covered his face as he felt a fresh batch of tears mat down the fur around his eyes. “I had him,” he muttered. “I had him in my hands and I let him go. I gave him false hope.”

“We had to do it, Bunny,” Tooth responded, though she didn’t sound too sure of herself either. “It had to be done.”

“Just because it had to be doesn’t make it feel any right.”

“Do you think that this is over?” Pitch taunted with a smirk gracing his twisted features. “So I lost this time? Big deal. I will just go to a different point in time, since I can’t return to this one. If I kill his sister early on, then he will have to reason to sacrifice himself, nor anyone to sacrifice his life for.”

“You vill leave little girl out of it,” North hissed, marching up to the entrapped shadow man. “Ve vill never allow you to hurt her.”

“Funny,” Pitch hummed. “I seem to remember hearing you say the same thing about someone else, and see how that turned out?”

North was silent. With a burning sensation growing in his eyes, he turned from Pitch and walked back over to Tooth and Bunny, ruffling Sandy’s hair tenderly as he passed. Bunny didn’t even acknowledge that the man was there.

“How do we get back?” Tooth asked, backing away from her hug on Bunny’s back in order to wipe at her own tears. North shrugged.

“Ve didn’t really think that far,” he stated. “Maybe ve vait?”

“For hundreds of years?” Tooth questioned. “I don’t think so.”

_Fear not. All is right. All is well._

All of them, even Pitch, jumped at the sudden voice that seemed to come out of nowhere, and yet everywhere all at once. An image of a clock formed over Sandy’s head as he glanced around.

The air changed around them. The sounds of nature vanished and even the light breeze quieted as time stood still. The only movement to be seen was the swirl of white sand, which formed into the familiar form of Tai M. Keeper.

“You have done what was needed,” he said as he strode across the frozen pond towards them. “Jack is becoming well again, thanks to my presence, he only received minimal time disruptions problems and should be waking up quite soon.”

“Did you know?” Bunny asked, standing at his full height. He glared daggers at the man, whom only smile faintly in return. “Did you know what it was that we had to do here?”

Tai nodded slowly. “I did.”

Suddenly, Bunny rushed at him. North managed to catch him before the rabbit could strike at Tai M. Keeper. “Bunny!” he shouted as Bunny struggled against his hold. “Stop, Bunny! Vhat are you doing?!”

“He _knew_!” Bunny hissed. “He knew and yet he didn’t say a thing to me; to us. He made us go through all of that without even a hint of a warning about what our _real_ mission was!”

“If I had told you,” Tai M. Keeper began to explain, “not only would you probably not have believed me, but it would have compelled you to try to find some other way around it, further disrupting history and hurting your friend in the process. Jack couldn’t have taken the risk. I did what I had to do, as was the same for you.”

“Take us back,” Tooth spoke up finally. “Please. I need to see him. I need to see him breathing and laughing and not…” She trailed off as her eyes wandered to the break in the ice once again.

“That is why I am here, Miss. Tooth.” Tai M. Keeper lifted his hand, revealing an hourglass. “When he awakens, he will need his friends there to welcome him.”

“Vhat about Pitch?” North asked, gesturing with his head at the shadow man, who was frozen in time as well. “He vill never give up.” North released Bunny, whom no longer was fighting to get at Grandfather Time.

“He will be unable to enter my palace again,” he assured. “I have put up the proper precautions so that his shadows may never enter. Unless from someone else’s hands they give, the hourglasses will hold no power for him.”

“Let’s go,” Bunny said calmly, staring at the ice beneath him with an intense stare. “Let’s go see Jack in one piece again.”

 “As you wish.” Tai M. Keeper then smashed the hourglass onto the ground. The white sand that erupted from it wrapped around all of them and blocked out the sight of the forest and the ice.

In what felt like a few seconds, the sand hide in the folds of Tai M. Keeper’s clock and they were back in his palace.

And there was Jack, dreaming peacefully where they had left him.


	10. Burning the Phoenix

“Jack!” Tooth shouted, rushing to the sleeping boy. North laughed joyously and followed after her with Sandy. Only Bunny was left with Tai M. Keeper.

“I do hope that you will one day be able to get over this,” Tai M. Keeper stated, not taking his eyes off of the other guardians. “I know how traumatizing it can be to have to go through something like that.”

“How would you know?” Pitch asked. “You live by yourself and you only make contact with others when you have to. What would you know about seeing what I have seen? Feeling what I have felt?”

“It is my duty to feel that way.” He finally turned his eyes to Bunny. “Do you honestly think that there was no one who I was close to before? I had a family and friends before I became what I am. Even after becoming Grandfather Time, I had a few who were close to my heart. But I have a duty and must protect the peace and order of the world.”

Bunny said nothing.

“I have, on many occasions, seen things like that, and even worse, if you can believe it,” Tai M. Keeper continued. “It is an emotionally toiling job, but I must remain bias as to what I must do and what was be done. History is only meant to be written one way and no one should ever attempt to change that.”

“Have many?” Bunny asked. “Have many tried to change history? Like what Pitch tried to do?”

“People have always wanted to control what cannot be their’s.” Tai M. Keeper patted Bunny on the shoulder. “But that is why there are people like us; to stop their attempts and protect those whom need it.”

“I just wish that he didn’t have to die like that,” Bunny huffed. “He had so much life left. He had a little sister and a family. Why must he die just so others can live without fear?”

“Have you ever heard of phoenixes?” Tai M. Keeper threw some of his sand towards one of his mirrors. An image appeared in it of a bird of many colors. It was lean and tall, twisted its petite head from side to side in order to ruffle its own bright feathers. “They are legendary birds that humans claim to live for a thousand years. But, after its lifespan is coming to a closure,” the image of the bird saddened was engulfed in flames, “it turns to ash.”

“Why are you bringing this up?” Bunny asked. “Jack isn’t really one for fire.”

“Look closely at what shall arise from the ash.” Bunny was gently pushed towards the mirror.

A small chick popped its head out of the ash, letting out a series of chatters and squeaks as it got use to its new voice. Bunny couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sight of the newborn in the mirror. He and Tai M. Keeper said nothing to one another as they continued to watch the illusion.

“Jack!” North’s voice boomed joyously. “Glad to see you avake.”

Bunny’s head snapped in the direction of the others. His eyes locked onto the form of Jack, who was now sitting up with the help of Tooth. His skin was still pale, but now it was the proper shade for the winter spirit. Jack grinned at everyone in turn before glancing at Bunny.

“What?” he called out to Bunny. “Is the Kangaroo too busy planning the next seven Easters to even bother with the likes of me?” Jack then stuck his tongue out at him playfully. Bunny smirked in response and made his way over.

Tai M. Keeper remained where he was, staring into the mirror. “Sometimes the phoenix must burn,” he muttered as he waved his hand at the mirror, erasing the image.

“I almost miss it when you were quiet, you show pony,” Bunny muttered, not meaning a word of it, as he held out his hand to Jack. With a smirk of his own, Jack accepted it and the Guardian of Hope pulled him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was the first fanfiction that I ever wrote. It was originally posted on my Wattpad account (and still is), but I wanted to get it onto this site as well. I hope you enjoyed it. There is a sequel to this one and I will start posting that soon.


	11. Cover Art




End file.
